In December 2011 the Ulster Historical Foundation was commissioned to undertake a major project to provide greater access to historical and genealogical information for families in Doagh and district. Funding for the Doagh Ancestry and Townlands initiative was provided by GROW South Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. A local steering group was formed to work alongside Dr William Roulston of the Ulster Historical Foundation in the development of the project.

Over the following months Dr Roulston researched and collated relevant materials, creating databases of genealogical records, such as the registers of local churches and gravestone inscriptions from Doagh burial ground, and meeting regularly with the group to provide update reports and receive feedback. Following the appointment of a web, book and exhibition designers, he worked alongside them through to the completion of the project.

Doagh booklet cover

The outputs of the project include a website which hosts a series of genealogical databases, information on tracing family history, and a historical narrative and old maps of the Doagh area. In addition a 56-page booklet entitled 'An Old World Place’: an introduction to the history of Doagh was produced and a exhibition comprising ten pop-up banners looking at various aspects of the story of the local community. A further important outcome of the projection was the installation of a series of marker stones at townland boundaries around Doagh. The project was launched in June 2013.